Gilda adjusted the sleeping Pip on her shoulder and grunted. "Right. Time to finish this."
There was nothing left to say. With a final, steadying breath, she led her strange little team through the shimmering stone archway.
The world dissolved into a brilliant, warm white light. A chorus of tinkling, bell-like voices washed over them, speaking a language they couldn't understand but that felt like warmth and summer afternoons.
Then, as quickly as it had come, the light faded, revealing they were standing in the middle of a vast, beautiful town square.
Floating lanterns shaped like glowing flowers drifted lazily through the air. Fountains of pure, liquid light arched and danced without a sound. The buildings around them were graceful, spiraling towers of pearlescent stone, and the air was filled with the gentle, chiming laughter of hundreds of fairies with wings like stained glass, all going about their day.
